okay i really dont know

[PWRD_BY_HKS]

Okay guys this is the deal with my car and i really need help so i can stop spending pointless money....

symtoms:

Hp loss
Terrible gas millege
loss of hp
back firer at high rpms....like a misfire
lack of hp

Things changed out:

Disty
cap
rotor
spark plug wires
spark plug cables
fuel filter
air filter
oil filter
oil...needed it anyways...

Events leading up:

Okay the problem started at one day just out of nowhere slight power loss and back fires at around 5 thousand rpms... back fires sounded like air bubbles... kindaf.... any way... when i checked timing it was about 10 whole degrees off... tried to correct it and as soon as i disconnect ten and grnd the car sounds like a wrx imprezza ... a big time mis fire ... as i rev the car up it sounds the same till about 3k rpm... after that it sounds not normal and very very strong.... but like i said it has no power at all before 3k so i had to advance timing... it sounds decent all around but like i said now there is a big time lack of power in the upper rpms... i have not check mechanical timing which is what i am going to do next.... nothing prior had been changed or anything was modded or nothing like that ... it just started on its own.... i searched the forum over and over and found nothing.... if you have any other suggestions or ideas please help me out .... i have become very very fruistrated at this point and really dont know what to do .... what could cause my disty to not be able to stay in time.... if it is not the timing belt the really i have no clue where to go from there..... all wires/sensors have been checked over and over, i am running the ze ecu so my check engine does not come on...so i couldnt tell you if its giving codes.... guys i really need you on this one...

the motor is a ze(t) .... the t is supposed to be official next week but i really want to correct my problem before the boost kicks in ....

[mazdamx3freak]

bad gas?

[hgallegos915]

sounds like bad timing. Timing belt issues on these cars are a beatch :/

[Mnemonic]

1st who told you to advanced your timing? seriously kick that person in the nuts cause they are an idiot or actually send them to me and i'll do it. You dont advance your timing when your car isnt running right, doing so does not FIX any issues and if your timing was off a full 10 degrees, its more than likely you jumped timing and need to redo the timing by aligning the gears properly with the crank etc... the fact that you did not check this before you started to play with advancing this. 2nd question if you have a ze ecu why didnt you pull the codes with a test light? Why didnt you hook up your k8 ecu and pull the codes? If its not the timing belt and your dumping alot of fuel into your engine, there is a very obvious sensor that would cause the engine to run poorly and dump alot of fuel. maybe the o2??? I'm not sure how you checked over your sensors and wires since you didn't try and pull any codes. Oh if your motor is not timed correctly mechanically it doesnt matter how many times you adjsut the disty it will never time properly. no need to taking up to 5k rpms while its messed up your only going to hurt it not fix it.

Not trying to be harsh here, but seriously i havent seen anything that you said so far that seemed like a good idea to do, and your planning to go turbo. i just dont want to see a ze get blown within the 1st month because Mistakes that shouldn't of been made were made.

My suggestion, Start over start from scratch imagine this problem just started and attack it correctly, 1 pull codes, grab a k8 ecu or search and look up how to do pull codes on a ze with a test light (O2 sensor going out can make your car run like crap and will send massive amount of fuel into the engine, fowling up the plugs and making it run like crap even more, will also make it backfire because hey its dumping alot of fuel into the engine so if all that fuel isn't burned off it goes into the exhaust and BOOM backfire, and yes it will sound like a wrx). 2 if ecu pulls any codes that relate to anything other than the emission system, fix these problems then see if car runs properly. 3 Check the mechincal timing if off even the slightest, go ahead and re-time it (while your at it might as well get a new timing belt) 4.if you've done all this and the engine still does not run smoothly, come back and ask for help bring everything that you've done and checked to the table and we will go from there.

[hgallegos915]

Im 90% certain its the timing and I believe I had told you this before dude. Change it out. Why dont you just pull out the engine for the turbo anyway and do the belt then, thats what Ill be doing. You have checked everything else.

[mx3autozam]

oh my i can't believe you havn't checked for codes..and you've been here how long..is the cel on at all...that would even be a sign to check for codes...lol

just cause the light is not opn doesn't mean there are no codes.

[2RotorsNaDream]

Id go with timing or O2 sensor.

[Mooneggs]

Okay guys this is the deal with my car and i really need help so i can stop spending pointless money....

symtoms:

Hp loss
Terrible gas millege
loss of hp
back firer at high rpms....like a misfire
lack of hp

Things changed out:

Disty
cap
rotor
spark plug wires
spark plug cables
fuel filter
air filter
oil filter
oil...needed it anyways...

I had all of the same symptoms except mine wasn't actually a misfire - more like a change in exhaust tone + no power in the upper rpms. I changed all of the same things in your list including an HEI mod. I never messed with my timing.

My injectors had gone bad.... fortunately I still had my straight neck manifold from the klze swap and I just swapped fuel rails. It immediately fixed the problem.

[PWRD_BY_HKS]

cool ill try that ... i still got my staight neck manifold too!

[hgallegos915]

Lets swap the injectors from your straight neck. Just watch the O RINGS very important! We can check the codes i think i got a k8 ecu if not we still got the kf ecu sitting there. Im off sunday. Sat I get out at 5:30